On Monday, March 21, 2022, Their Majesties King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium welcomed the President of the Republic of Austria, His Excellency Alexander Van der Bellen, and First Lady Her Excellency Mrs. Doris Schmidauer, to the Palais Royal in Brussels. President Van der Bellen and his wife were invited to Belgium for a three-day state visit. This is the first state visit between Austria and Belgium since 1997, but also the first incoming state visit to Belgium since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
After warm greetings were given and the Belgian as well as Austrian national anthems were played His Majesty King Philippe and President Van der Bellen, per tradition, participated in inspecting the Guard of Honor.
This evening there will be an official state dinner at Château de Laeken.
Click the link below to view a photo gallery from PPE:
Photos courtesy of the Belgian Royal Court